Riot-hit Muzaffarnagar on edge again after rape

In what created ripples in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar district, a 19-year-old married woman was alleged raped by two men on Saturday evening.

Soon after the incident was reported, rumours spread that a girl staying at a relief camp in Jogiakhera village of Phugana police circle of Muzaffarnagar was raped by two youths of the other community.

The police, however, denied it. “The incident had nothing to do with the relief camp. The girl lives in nearby town Phugana and was visiting relatives in Jogiakhera,” Muzaffarnagar SSP HN Singh told HT.

The accused Sachin and Sushil also belong to the same town and Sachin had an affair with the girl even before her marriage, said Singh. Some passersby spotted them in the fields at the fringes of the village and reported the matter to villagers who caught them and informed the police.

Initial investigation, said the SSP, revealed that it was a case of love affair and Sachin had come to meet the girl along with his friend. But when they got caught, the girl leveled rape charges to avoid embarrassment, said Singh.

Sachin and Sushil, both residents of Phugana, were arrested and later sent to jail.